SANTA CLARA, Calf. — The Minnesota Vikings acquired restricted free agent running back Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers and rewarded him with a two-year deal worth up to $12 million.
Two people familiar with the deal confirmed the trade that sends a 2026 sixth-round pick to San Francisco on Saturday night. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the move.
There is also a pick swap in 2025 with the Niners flipping the 187th overall pick for the 160th.
ESPN first reported the trade.
San Francisco had previously placed a second-round tender on Mason worth $5.4 million for 2025. That gave the 49ers the right to match any offer made to Mason or receive a second-round pick as compensation.
But with San Francisco unwilling to pay that high a salary to a backup and Minnesota unwilling to part with such a high pick, the sides reached the trade instead. The deal the Vikings reached with Mason includes $7 million in fully guaranteed money, one of the people said.
The 25-year-old Mason, an undrafted free agent in 2022, has been very effective as Christian McCaffrey’s backup in limited action for San Francisco and now gives the Vikings an option to team with Aaron Jones. The 30-year-old Jones re-signed with Minnesota on a two-year, $20 million this offseason.
Mason rushed for 789 yards and three TDs in 12 games last season for San Francisco, averaging 5.2 yards per carry — fifth best among all qualifying running backs.
Mason has averaged 5.3 yards per carry for his carry, ranking eighth best among all running backs with at least 200 carries in the Super Bowl era.
Mason is the latest key player to leave San Francisco in an offseason exodus so far this month.
The 49ers have cut three key contributors from last season, also traded star receiver Deebo Samuel to Washington and saw 11 other free agents leave for other teams this week as the team following a disappointing 6-11 season in 2024.
San Francisco did bring one player back Saturday, agreeing to a two-year, $8 million contract with nine-time Pro Bowl just days after he was cut, a person familiar with the deal told the AP on condition of anonymity because the move hadn’t been announced.
The Niners had officially released Juszczyk on Tuesday instead of paying him a $4.1 million salary this season and up to an additional $500,000 in offseason workout and per-game roster bonuses. The team took on a $3.6 million dead cap charge with the move, but brought him back on the new deal. Juszczyk was nearly cut last season, but agreed to take a pay cut to stay in San Francisco.
The 33-year-old Juszczyk was one of the first players signed after coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017 and has been a key part of the offense since, thanks to his versatility.
In an era when few teams use fullbacks, Juszczyk has played about half the offensive snaps during his time with San Francisco and has made the Pro Bowl all eight seasons with the team and nine times overall. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2023 and second-teamer in 2024 after fullbacks were added back as a position for All-Pro the past two years.
Juszczyk had 19 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns last season, while also rushing for 26 yards and a TD. He has 184 catches for 1,895 yards and 13 TDs in eight seasons with the Niners, along with 237 yards rushing and six more TDs on the ground.
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